Oktoberfests, traditional and otherwise, are here

Oktoberfest celebrations range all over the place when it comes to content and timing. Some already have gotten a jump on the season even though October doesn’t begin until Saturday. But, by German tradition, that’s OK.

To explain: THE Oktoberfest is a 16- to 18-day beer festival held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, from late September to the first weekend in October. It began there in 1810. Only beer brewed within the city limits is allowed to be served in this festival. Traditional food such as hendl (chicken), schweinebraten (roast pork), steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), würstl (sausages), reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), sauerkraut or rotekraut (red cabbage) have over the years become common.

In the Capital Region, Oktoberfests dot the food-and-drinks calendars. Here is a representative sampling:

This, of course, does not count events billed as “harvest festivals.” One event that sounds very much like an Oktoberfest but forgoes the beer is the “Best of the Wurst,” a German food festival scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 22, at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 3rd Avenue and 111th Street in Lansingburgh (North Troy). It’s a $6-a -head dinner to benefit various church ministries and hunger programs. Phone: (518) 235-2432.

There also are other Oktoberfest events in other parts of the state. You can keep abreast of the action by making a habit of checking my New York Drinks Events Calendar.